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Raw Food Diet

Posted on Jul 12, 2016

To be at our optimum health we need to make sure that what we put in to our bodies is fresh and healthy. And eating a raw food diet is the perfect way to achieve this. So think organic, uncooked, unprocessed foods like vegetables, seeds, juices, fruits and nuts.

Even just eating a diet of 75% raw food can have huge health benefits such as weight loss and detox.

Here are just some of the benefits of a raw food diet…

Why Raw Foods?

In essence, raw food is food that has not been heated above 48 degrees. When we heat food over that temperature then the enzymes that aid digestion and absorption in the food get destroyed. Therefore you lose any nutritional value.

Raw food also contains the maximum amount of fibre as you don’t lose any during the processing period (because of course, you’re not processing them at all).

Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

As we mentioned in the introduction, you don’t need to go 100% all in on the raw food diet. If just 75% of your diet is raw, you’ll still see the numerous health benefits associated such as increased energy, better skin, improved digestion, weight loss and prevention of serious illness such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

A raw food diet contains little or no saturated fats, is low in salt, high in potassium, magnesium, folate and fibre. Eating raw food is also an excellent way to detox. Different combinations of raw, living foods and juices can be used for colon, liver, kidney and skin cleansing.

The Basics of a Raw Food Diet

Any fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, beans, nuts, legumes, young coconut milk and even sea vegetables such as seaweed and samphire can be eaten on the raw food diet.

Your choice of foods may depend on your reasons for dieting, for example:

-Carrots are a great source of vitamin A as well as encouraging healthy vision and a healthy cardio-vascular system

Here are some foods that you may want to incorporate in to your diet if you’re planning on going raw…

You can use a sprouter to sprout seeds, grains, beans and wheatgrass. Sprouts are a super food and vital to the raw food diet because of the levels of proteins, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, chlorophyll pigments and enzymes, and are the ideal natural supplement.

Fresh juices are also a great inclusion to a raw lifestyle because juices are full of essential nutrients. Our raw-me juices are a great addition for anyone following the raw food diet.

Fennel has been shown to reduce and control inflammation of arthritis, it evens mood fluctuation and depressive states and has the rare nutrient called manganese, plus zinc and vitamin B complex.

The nutritional value of grains and seeds is impressive. They contain most of the vitamins particularly A, B, and E. They’re also fantastic natural sources of unsaturated fatty acids and lecithin, and an excellent source of proteins.

Essentially, the idea of a raw food diet is to eat unprocessed foods for at least 75% of the time. If the idea of raw food isn’t very appetising to you, you can warm the food a little as long as the food isn’t heated above 48 Celsius.

A word of warning

Because a raw food diet is detoxifying some people suffer a mild detox reaction including mild headaches, nausea and cravings. These symptoms may last for several days and you’ll get more enjoyment out of your raw food diet if you cut down on things like meat, sugar and caffeine a week or so before commencing the diet.

A raw food diet is a great way to improve your overall health and wellbeing. Like anything worthwhile it takes time, energy and commitment.